Prayer to be unmade, the burdensome "I"
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जाळा तुह्मी माझें जाणतें मीपण । येणें माझा खुण मांडियेला ॥1॥
खादलें पचे तरि च तें हित । ओकलिया थीत पिंड पीडी ॥ध्रु.॥
तरि भलें भोगे जोडिलें तें धन । पडिलिया खानें जीवनासी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मज तारीं गा विठ्ठला । नेणतां चि भला दास तुझा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O Lord, burn away this knowing "I" of mine. It has set itself up as my very mark and measure. What is eaten must be digested; only then is it beneficial. If it is vomited out, the undigested lump torments the body. It is good to spend the wealth one has earned. Hoarding it becomes a pit that swallows one's very life. Says Tuka, save me, O Vitthal. Your servant is better off not knowing too much.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Burn away this knowing "I" of mine, O Lord. It has set itself up as my mark and measure. What you eat does you good only when it is digested. Vomited up, the undigested lump torments the body. It is good to spend the wealth you earn. Hoarded, it becomes a pit that swallows your life. Tuka says: save me, O Vitthal. Your servant is better off not knowing too much.
What it means
Tukaram prays for God to destroy the very thing most people work to build: the self-aware "I" that takes itself as the measure of everything. He gives two homely figures for why this knowing harms him. Food only nourishes once it is digested; left as an undigested lump it sickens you, and so a cleverness you cannot absorb only torments you. Earned wealth is good only when spent; hoarded, it becomes a pit that swallows your life, and so does hoarded self-importance. He ends by asking to be kept simple: he would rather be God's servant who does not know too much than a man undone by his own knowing.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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